What does your desk look like? Do you have a desk? Do you have an office? One at work and at home? Where do you “get stuff done”?
There’s apparently some psychology to how a person keeps his/her desk and what it says about him/her. For example, this infographic illustrates what you and others think about cluttered versus clean desks. This article and graphic reinforce some of the points but it a little more in-depth. Of course, I think both are probably based on this article. I like this one because it says piles of paper mean you’re an “out-of-the-box thinker.” Another article links the state of one’s desk to the common personality types.
I’ve always had a workspace at home. Even when I had an office I went to every weekday, I had some place to “work” at home. Over the years, in different houses and work situations, it’s ranged from small, cubby-like iterations to full-blown home offices. A few years ago, I downsized significantly to an armoire-style desk in the corner of our bedroom so that we could turn what had been my home office – with built-ins and french doors – into another bedroom. Even after moving into a new house, that armoire desk was my one spot in the house that was mine and mine alone.
It’s weird, and hopelessly selfish of me, I suppose, to dream of a space that’s only mine. I’ve ridiculously used the lack of a mine-all-mine space as an excuse for not writing. I had this “hiccup” in my brain that I needed the perfect writers’ space to be creative.
Nevertheless, for the day-to-day work, that albeit tight spot was sufficient, since most days I was commuting to one campus or another performing various adjunct teaching gigs. However, with the pandemic and shift to remote learning, I was spending more and more time in what seemed to be a shrinking space. So, Bryan offered to build me a desk, but it wasn’t an overnight project by any means.
During the semester, I added another monitor to assist with Zoom teaching. Then, I had to move the whole set-up to the other side of the room so that the new desk could be brought in – though it still had to “sit” and “seal” before use.
Isn’t it a beauty?! It’s really too pretty to put things on, but I have to. One of the things I asked for in my custom-built desk was lots and lots of desktop space. I didn’t want to feel cramped or run out of room for all my stacks.
This is most certainly a space “worthy” of writing as well as for getting the day-to-day must-be-done stuff complete. No excuses now.
I’ll admit when Bryan offered to build me a desk – and to have it ready by Christmas – I doubted him. I really should know better than to doubt that man by now. Of course, he knocked it out of the park. And, man, do I feel uptown now.
Wonder what this desk says about me.